Cherry Tomatoes
by soaringXspirit
Summary: SasuSaku. It's probably a bit lame, but I think it's sweet. It's Sasuke's birthday, and of course Sakura knows just what to get him. But she wasn't expecting his response.


Cherry Tomatoes

**A/N: Yes, another SasuSaku. I've been way too obsessed with this pairing lately, and I think I've read more SasuSaku fanfics than I've watched episodes of Naruto…oopsies.**

It was the second worst day of the year, except holidays. The first was the anniversary of his family's death. And today was his birthday. Why would someone hate their own birthday, you may ask. Well, Sasuke hated celebrating his birthday because it brought back memories of better days, back when he lived happily with his loving parents and brother. Before Sasuke had completed his lifelong goal of killing said brother and avenging his parents, he despised his birthday for another reason: it constantly reminded him of how he had let another year slip by without finding Itachi.

But now Sasuke was back in Konoha, living in an apartment on the other side of town from his old home. Things started to patch themselves up once he returned. Of course he had a punishment, but the details of that are unnecessary to know right now. Most people just glared at him for the first couple of weeks, and he could hear the words _traitor_ and _rogue_ escaping people's lips when they saw him. Eventually, slowly, cautiously, people started to ease up around him. He still seemed like the same stoic Sasuke that had left the village years before, just more muscular, sexier, and with a new outfit.

July 23.

The bubblegum-haired medic-nin woke up before the sun that day. She went about her regular routine of showering, dressing, and eating. As she sipped the last of her tea, a red circle on her calendar caught her attention. She leaned her body forward and squinted at the calendar that was tacked to the wall of her kitchen. Nothing was written on the date, but for some reason she had circled it. _Think, Sakura! C'mon, why in Kami's name did you circle today's date?_ she thought to herself. She starred at the paper blankly for about a minute and began twiddling her fingers against the table. And then…light bulb! She remembered! Today was Sasuke's 20th birthday. _Of course! How could I forget? I even went to the market yesterday to get him his gift._ Sakura lazily walked over to her fridge and smiled when she spotted a little box of ripe mini-tomatoes inside. She gingerly took the present out of the chilly fridge and reached for a pen and paper.

_Sasuke,_

_Everyone always says how smart you are. Well, if you can't figure out who these are from, then I guess people were just spreading lies._

Sakura folded the piece of paper in half and tucked it inside the box of fresh cherry tomatoes. She hadn't bothered to write _Happy Birthday_ on the note; after all, she didn't want to sound like a fan girl. Now all she had to do was get her present to Sasuke without him knowing that it was her. She looked out her window, searching for the sun. It was nowhere to be found in the sky. Which meant that there was a chance that Sasuke could still be sleeping.

It had been a success! When Sakura arrived at Sasuke's apartment, he wasn't even in there. As stealthily as she could manage, Sakura jumped through one of his windows, dashed towards what she hoped was the kitchen, eventually found it, snuck the box of tomatoes inside his fridge and darted back out of the window again, all in a matter of seconds. She was actually pretty pleased with herself. After that she headed off to work at the hospital and went about her day as if nothing had ever happened. It would be one of those boring days at the hospital. A business day. No lives needed saving, but papers desperately cried out to be signed.

Sasuke had gone to train all day. He didn't want to see anyone, talk to anyone, have anything to do with anyone today. He just wanted to be by himself and let the anger rush out of him as he battled his dummy opponents. The memories were too painful. They were memories that he had tucked away in the back of his brain. Memories of Itachi being kind and caring and of Mother always smiling and kissing her little baby boy. No, Sasuke didn't want to think about them. They were gone. Dead.

He had begun training at some time in between 5:20 and 6 am, and judging by the sun, more than twelve hours had passed. He had accomplished his goal of avoiding everyone, despite the fact that it was his birthday. Normal people are surrounded by friends and family on their birthdays, celebrating and having a good time. _But not me, _Sasuke thought, _I'm not a normal person. I don't live a normal life_. His thoughts were interrupted by his stomach. _I suppose twelve hours of training does tend to make someone hungry._ Sasuke ran home, going through the woods and taking only the back roads. There was still the chance of people being out and about, and he didn't want anyone to see him for fear that they might break out into "Happy Birthday!"

Safe within the compartments of his apartment, Sasuke's mind was focused on one thing: food. Upon opening his refrigerator door, his eyes caught sight of a little blue box with something bright red in it. In his mind, Sasuke was quite confused, but he would never allow his features to show it. He reached in, and looked at the little box in his hand. _Tomatoes, _he thought, _well maybe it's a present from someone. But who? How would they know that I love tomatoes? _Sasuke began contemplating the ripe, round fruits. Then his eye caught sight of a little note tucked away on the side. He read it in haste:

_Sasuke,_

_Everyone always says how smart you are. Well, if you can't figure out who these are from, then I guess people were just spreading lies._

His mind turned back on as he started to think. _The tomatoes are small. In fact, they're cherry tomatoes. Okay, so I know what kind of tomato they are. That's not helping. Who knows about my love of tomatoes? Probably Naruto, Sakura…Kakashi maybe? Karin? Itachi and Mother did. But they're dead! Damn it Sasuke, think of LIVING people! Hmmm…_

Sasuke stood there, gingerly holding his tomatoes in his left hand while his right hand fidgeted on the handle of the fridge. _Wait, rewind a moment there, Sasuke: Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, and Karin. Cherry tomatoes. Cherry. Cherry blossoms. Sakura. _His face momentarily betrayed him as his eyes widened and he gasped a bit. He quickly regained his composure. He would never admit it to anyone, but deep down, Sasuke was glad that the medic-nin had dropped by sometime during the day to give him a birthday gift. But there was just one thing that was bugging him in the middle of all his hidden happiness; Sakura had forgotten his favorite suffix.

Before he really knew what he was doing, Sasuke was out the door of his apartment and heading down the streets of the village to a certain pinkette's house. (He still hasn't closed the fridge door though, he must be a little spacey at the moment.)

There was an unexpected knock at Sakura's door at 6:20 pm. She was literally in the middle of munching down on some rice balls, and keeping one in her hand, she walked across the living room to answer the door.

"Sasuke?" was all she could say between the rice ball in her mouth and the shock of you-know-who being at her doorstep.

"Kun," he said as nonchalantly as possible. Sakura just tilted her head in confusion.

"You forgot the –kun," he elaborated, holding up the little note to Sakura's face.

"So, you figured it out," she said smiling slyly, leaning against the doorframe. "It took you long enough; I put those in your fridge about twelve and a half hours ago." Sasuke decided not to respond to this. All he did was stand there. And stare at her. It actually made her feel a bit uncomfortable, but she didn't want him to leave so she did the best thing that she could think of.

"Do you want to come in?" She had made a bold move, but she was determined to fix the bond between them. So he made a bold move. He stepped in. The smile on her lips didn't escape his notice. He wanted more and more for that smile to stay there. _Why? _He thought, _why do I care so much all of the sudden?_

"So Sasuke, why-"

"kun" Sasuke blurted out, interrupting her. Her lips parted and she giggled. Sasuke's heart jumped a bit.

"Alright, Sasuke-kun, why did you come all the way to my house? You could've just called me."

Sasuke seemed a little embarrassed, but he was an Uchiha and they never feel that way! He held her eyes in his and mustered up all of his courage to utter a few words.

"Thank you." Sakura looked up from her rice ball and Sasuke noticed how her eyes softened. And then he noticed a little piece of stray rice that had missed her mouth and sat on the corner of her lips. Sasuke tried his hardest to suppress a chuckle. He motioned to her that she had some food on her face, but she had put her hand on the wrong side of her mouth. Sasuke walked over to her. _What am I doing? _His conscience thought. But before he had time to mentally answer himself, he had lifted his hand to her face and whipped away the little grain of rice with his thumb.

Realization sunk in as Sakura looked at him in total shock. _He's touching me. Sasuke…Sasuke-kun his touching me. What's going on? Am I still awake? _Sasuke took advantage of their current position, and his lips swooped down to lightly press against hers. _His lips taste like tomatoes; he must have eaten one, _Sakura thought in delight as she gently kissed him back.

It was a short and simple kiss, but it made them feel so whole.

_So that's what's been missing, _Sasuke thought. _The tomato had been missing the cherry._

Breaking the kiss, Sasuke drew her into him, embracing her in his strong arms, never wanting to let her go. He could have a normal life; he could be happy and feel whole again. He just needed a bright cherry blossom by his side and in his arms.

"Happy birthday, Sasuke-kun," Sakura murmured into the fabric of his shirt. He held her closer in reply.

**A/N: I know, it's corny and cheesy (and whatever other food you want to associate it with). But hey, I rushed it from start to finish, so there's probably a ton of mistakes everywhere. Sorry!**

**Sasuke is a bit OOC, which is kinda bugging me. **

**I'm not gonna say "please review" cuz I don't wanna be annoying, but I just wanna let ya know that reviews really do motivate me **


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